Polyester polyether segmented copolymers can be widely utilized in the synthetic polymer art in various shapes or forms, for example, filament, fiber, yarn, film, sheet, or other molded articles. However, these polymers have a draw-back in that they possess poor ultraviolet light stability, that is, they undergo severe deterioration when exposed to light such as sunlight or ultraviolet light. For the purposes of stabilizing these polymers against such deterioration, there have heretofore been proposed in the art a number of stabilizers, for example, such as phenols, amines, compounds containing both hydroxyl and amine groups and salts of multivalent metals. Although such stabilizers are considered as satisfactory for some polymer applications, attempts have been made to develop new and more effective stabilizers.
It has been found that the copolymerization of novel 2,2,6,6-tetramethypiperidine derivative monomers of the present invention into the backbone of the polyester/polyether segmented copolymer produces a polymer which has much improved stability against the degradating effects of ultraviolet light, as well as good processability characteristics.